1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink supply device for a rotary printer or a sheet-feed printer and an ink key thereof, and in particular, to an ink supply device provided with an ink tray removably mounted in an ink box and an ink tray thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
A printer such as a sheet-feed printer or a rotary printer, as shown in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, is provided with an ink supply device 60 with an ink box (ink fountain) 62 before a primary ink roller (ink fountain roller) 61. The ink box 62 is constituted by the peripheral surface of the primary ink roller 61, a plurality of ink keys (blades) 63 forming the bottom portion of the ink box 62, and two side plates 64 (only the deep side plate is shown in FIG. 25) which are mounted on both outer sides of the outermost ink keys of the plurality of ink keys 63 and whose front ends are in sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the primary ink roller 61. Ink in the ink box 62 is supplied to the primary ink roller 61 from a gap between the primary ink roller 61 and the tip ends of the ink keys 63 and is transferred to a group of ink rollers arranged downstream via a drawing roller not shown.
As shown in FIG. 26, the plurality of ink keys 63 are arranged in parallel in the direction of width of the device and the neighboring ink keys 63, 63 are in sliding contact with each other, and the side end ink keys 63 at both side ends and the side plates 64 are also in sliding contact with each other. Further, each ink key 63 can be oscillated individually around a fulcrum shaft 65 and an ink quantity controller 66 is mounted below each ink key 63.
The ink quantity controller 66 is provided with a push-up member 66b engaging with the bottom surface of the tip end of each ink key 63 and a pusher 66a contacting the push-up member 66b and extending or contracting to oscillate the push-up member 66b. The push-up member 66b is oscillated by extending or contracting the pusher 66a to move up and down a portion engaging with the ink key 63, whereby the tip end of the ink key 63 is oscillated. The gap between the ink key 63 and the primary ink roller 61 is controlled by the oscillation to control the thickness of an ink film supplied to the primary ink roller 61.
FIG. 27 to FIG. 30 schematically show the structure of a conventional ink storage device of a printer mounted in a sheet-feed printer. FIG. 27 shows a state of operation and FIG. 27 shows a state of cleaning and FIG. 29 is a partial perspective view and FIG. 30 is a side view of the ink keys when they are cleaned.
In each drawing described above, reference numeral 101 designates an ink key controlling the amount of ink supplied and a plurality of ink keys are arranged in the direction of axis of the primary ink roller 102, the number of the ink keys being determined by the necessity of controlling the amount of ink in the direction of width of a printed matter. Reference numeral 109 designates a turning fulcrum shaft of the ink key 101 when the ink key 101 is controlled. Reference numeral 102 designates the primary ink roller for receiving the controlled amount of ink and transferring the ink to the next roller. Reference numeral 124 designates a gap formed between the ink key 101 and the primary ink roller 102 for controlling the amount of ink to be supplied. Reference numeral 111 designates ink box side plates arranged on opposite ends of the primary ink roller 102. Each ink box side plate 111 contacts the surface of each end of the primary ink roller 102 at the tip end thereof and the side surface of the ink key 101 arranged at right and left side ends at the side surface thereof to prevent the leakage of ink from these contact portions. This way, the ink key 101, the primary ink roller 102 and the ink box side plate 111 constitute an ink box 100 storing the ink.
An ink key receiving base 108 supports the ink key 101 and the ink box side plate 111 and is supported by a turning center shaft 110 mounted on a mechanical frame and described below. Reference numeral 107 designates a mounting bolt arranged in a groove 108a made in the ink key receiving base 108 and screwed into the bottom surface of the ink key 101. Reference numeral 106 designates a compression spring arranged in the groove 108a made in the ink key receiving base 108 and between the ink key receiving base 108 and the mounting bolt 107. The compression spring 106 applies with the mounting bolt 107 a pressing force pressing the ink key 101 toward the ink key receiving base 108. Reference numeral 103 designates an ink quantity controller mounted on each ink key 101. When the amount of ink supplied to the primary ink roller 102 is reduced (a gap 124 is reduced), a push-up portion 104 is moved up to push up the ink key 101 against the force of the compression spring 106. When the amount of ink supplied to the primary ink roller 102 is increased (i.e., a gap 124 is increased), a push-up portion 104 moves downward to push down the ink key 101 by the force of the compression spring 106.
The turning center shaft 110 supports the right and left ends of the ink key receiving base 108 and acts as a turning center for separating the ink key 101 and the ink box side plate 111 backward from the primary ink roller 102, as shown in FIG. 28, when the ink in the ink box 100 is removed and the ink keys 101 and the like are cleaned. A plurality of ink keys 101 are arranged in the direction of axis of the primary ink roller 102, as shown in FIG. 29, and there is provided between the ink keys 101 a small gap allowing the individual ink keys 101 to slide.
The conventional ink supply device 60 shown in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26 has a small gap between the neighboring ink keys 63, 63 and a small gap between the side end ink key 63 and the side plate 64, whereby the ink keys 63 can slide. Therefore, the ink may possibly get into the small gap between the ink keys 63, 63 because of capillary phenomenon or the like. The conventional ink supply device 60 has a problem that if the ink which has entered into the gap between the ink keys 63, 63 solidifies, the ink makes the action of the ink keys 63 unstable or fixes the ink keys 63 in the worst case to make it impossible to control the thickness of an ink film with high accuracy.
Further, it is necessary to wipe the ink remaining in the ink box 62 with textile waste or to wash it with cleaning liquid, but it is difficult to remove the ink because the ink has high viscosity. In particular, it is difficult to remove the ink from the gap between the ink keys 63, 63, and lead to increased workload on workers cleaning the ink keys 63. Further, in order to improve productivity, it is required that a preparation time for order changes be shortened to increase the availability of the device, but a cleaning time is increased because the load of cleaning is increased when the ink is changed. Therefore, it has been required that workload be reduced in cleaning operations and that a cleaning time be shortened to increase the availability and productivity of the device.
Further, the ink key 101 is erected approximately 90 degrees with respect to its original position as shown in FIG. 30 and the sides thereof are cleaned. A press-down unit 105 for pressing down the ink key 101 (which is constituted by a compression spring 106, a mounting bolt 107 and the like) is required to be disassembled. However, since the printer has a great number of the press-down units 105, disassembling of the press-down units 105 becomes heavily burdensome.
Further, after a daily printing work finishes, the sides of the ink key 101 are cleaned by picking up the tip end of each ink key 101 with fingers without disassembling the press-down units 105. However, since the ink key 101 is not completely picked up unlike FIG. 30, the sides of the ink key 101 cannot be cleaned sufficiently. Further, since the ink key 101 is picked up against the spring force of the compression spring 106, there is produced a problem that the cleaning work is burdensome.
The present invention has been achieved in consideration of the above described problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink supply device which can prevent ink from getting into a gap between ink keys to make the action of the ink keys stable and save labor in cleaning of the ink keys, and the ink key therefor.
Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide an ink storage device for a printer in which the sides of the ink key are cleaned easily and sufficiently.
In order to accomplish the objects described above, in accordance with the one aspect of the present invention, there is provided the first aspect of an ink supply device comprising an ink box whose bottom portion is formed of a plurality of ink keys arranged in parallel to each other and whose side walls are formed of side plates arranged on opposite outer sides of the plurality of ink keys, and for supplying ink from the ink box to a primary ink roller, wherein the ink supply device further comprises a cover member hermetically covering the surfaces of the plurality ink keys and a groove is made on either one or both of the opposing sides of each of the plurality of ink keys abutting on each other from the top surface of the ink key to the bottom surface thereof.
The second aspect of an ink supply device in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the ink supply device, the cover member is extended to cover the side plates and a groove is made on one or both of the sides of the side plate and the ink key abutting on the side plate from the top surface of the ink key to the bottom surface thereof.
The third aspect of the ink supply device in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect or the second aspect of the ink supply device in accordance with the present invention, the groove is made at the side of the tip end portion of the ink key.
The fourth aspect of an ink key in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that, in the ink key forming the bottom portion of an ink box, a groove is made on the side of the ink key from the top surface of the ink key to the bottom surface thereof.
The fifth aspect of an ink key in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that, in the ink key of the fourth aspect, the ink key includes a covered portion which is covered by a cover member and is not in direct contact with ink and an exposed portion which is projected via a step nearer to the tip end side than the covered portion and hence is not covered by the cover member and has a top surface portion in direct contact with the ink, and wherein the groove is formed nearer to the base end side than the step.
The sixth aspect of an ink key in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that, in the ink key of the fifth aspect, the end portion of the tip end side of the groove is made at a position where the step is formed.
In order to solve the problems described above, the seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in an ink storage device of a printer comprising a plurality of ink keys constituting the bottom surface of an ink box, each ink key is freely turned via a turning fulcrum shaft and receives the action of a spring force in the predetermined turning direction and is provided with an aspect for applying the spring force to the ink key or removing the spring force applied to the ink key.
The eighth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the seventh aspect of the present invention described above, the device is provided with a spring force transmission member and the ink key has a hole allowing the head portion of the spring force transmission member to pass therethrough and preventing the head portion from passing therethrough when the head portion is turned a predetermined amount, wherein the head portion of the spring force transmission member is turned to a position where the head portion can not pass through the hole to engage the spring force transmission member with the ink key, thereby applying the spring force to the ink key, and wherein the head portion of the spring force transmission member is turned to a position where the head portion can pass through the hole to disengage the spring force transmission member from the ink key, thereby removing the spring force applied to the ink key.
Further, the ninth aspect in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that, in the seventh aspect of the present invention described above, the ink key has a groove allowing the head portion of the spring force transmission member to pass therethrough or preventing the head portion of the spring force transmission member from passing therethrough, depending on the oscillation position of the spring force transmission member, wherein the spring force transmission member is oscillated to a position where the head portion of the spring force transmission member can not pass through the groove to engage the spring force transmission member with the ink key, thereby applying the spring force to the ink key, and wherein the spring force transmission member is oscillated to a position where the head portion of the spring force transmission member can pass through the groove to disengage the spring force transmission member from the ink key, thereby removing the spring force applied to the ink key.
The tenth aspect in accordance with the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the seventh to ninth aspect of the present invention described above, an ink tray is mounted above the ink key so that it may cover at least the head portion of the spring force transmission member.